A Beginner’s Guide to Intentional Daydreaming

Lucid dreaming by daylight.

“Take me to a timely place…”

It sounds a little like “Calgon, take me away, but this phrase has the power to take you anywhere you want to go…. within your imagination! It’s the first part of the invocation, the 2nd step of what I call DayLight Dreaming, a method of inner visioning or directed waking dreams that can be truly transformative.

Because of the nature of our human experience, everything is anchored in time and space. When we know the time and the place, we are “oriented.” “Timely place” is simply about calling forth the best space and moment for experiencing a named intention in our DayLight Dreaming.

Every time and place is further defined by our senses, what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. We don’t always consciously register all of these senses, but we can certainly all think of a time and place that exists in our memory but is brought to the forefront of our minds from a smell, a song, a phrase, or a feeling. Every moment is informed by those past moments to some degree or another.

“Take me to a timely place,” as a phrase, is about going somewhere. Where do you want to go? What do you want to experience? Answering these questions helps to determine your intention, the second invocation part of DayLight Dreaming. What do you want to learn? to see? to do? Who do you want to encounter? to converse with?

Do you dare use your imagination? You might be thinking, why wouldn’t I want to simply do the thing in real life? Circumstances of time and space — other commitments and physical limitations — often limit what we can physically do and where we can physically go. Even when we can experience these things, we are often not even present to them because we are DayLight Dreaming somewhere else.

Go ahead! Try it! So what if have a trip planned to Rome next year?! You can go there now! “Take me to a timely place where I can visit a Piazza in Rome.” Let your imagination take you. It may be nothing like your actual trip to Rome, but a subsequent trip wouldn’t be like the first one either! You might find it helps you tune in to your surroundings in Rome when you get there in a way you might have missed otherwise.

1. Induction — Diminish activity and prepare to go within. Relax your body and mind. Ideally, you will be in a place where you can be undisturbed for a while. While some sessions might last for 10 to 20 minutes or more, very powerful sessions can be experienced in as little as a few minutes.
2. Invocation — You are invoking or inviting the imagery to come forth with your stated intention. Here are a few suggestions

Take me to a timely place where I can understand my sister’s pain. Take me to a timely place where I can meet the day with equanimity and grace. Take me to a timely place where I can see solutions for [my current problem].

Get even more creative and enter into the purely imaginative. Meet with a character in your favorite book. Visit the Moon. Explore a dormant volcano. Be literal. Be symbolic. But let your imagination lead. The possibilities are truly endless.

Here are the five steps of the DayLight Dreaming process on a basic level.

1. Induction — Diminish activity and prepare to go within. Relax your body and mind. Ideally, you will be in a place where you can be undisturbed for a while. While some sessions might last for 10 to 20 minutes or more, very powerful sessions can be experienced in as little as a few minutes.
2. Invocation — You are invoking or inviting the imagery to come forth with your stated intention. Here are a few suggestions

Take me to a timely place where I can understand my sister’s pain. Take me to a timely place where I can meet the day with equanimity and grace. Take me to a timely place where I can see solutions for [my current problem].

Take me to a timely place where I can visit the Magician’s Shop and find a new tool. Take me to a timely place where I can experience anew the wonder of learning. Take me to a timely place where I can see the dynamics of this [work] relationship. Allow the imagery to unfold. Think of all the things you might learn and experience with just a simple intention like one of these.

1. Insertion — don’t just view the imagery like you are watching a movie screen. Jump into it. Yep, it’s like magic, but you can do it! Here’s how… Anchor further by paying attention to your inner senses. What do you see, hear, taste, smell, and touch in this timely place? Now, ask “what happens next?”
2. Involvement — Dream the dream onward and participate with the imagery. If something needs to happen, use the resources at your disposal or imagine them into existence in some way. If a plant needs water, you might find that you can wish a water can into the scene, or you might invoke rain. Everything moves toward rest and resolution, sooner or later. Do this with the imagery you are experiencing.
3. Integration — Once you feel like you can close this chapter or vignette, honor it with gratitude. Recognize its sovereignty and service to your wholeness. You might not feel it yet, but it will work on you and in you. Open your eyes, and anchor yourself in your physical surroundings. Then, find a way to make practical use of the imagery session. Draw a picture, write a poem or journal entry, perform a dance, or share your imagery with a friend. Come up with your own ideas to retain the energy of this DayLight Dreaming.

Where did you go? What did you do? What stood out for you? Were you able to anchor, or did you find yourself distracted?

Originally published at https://www.oldsoulalchemy.com on December 3, 2023.

Runa Heilung is the founder of Old Soul Alchemy. She uses imagery and imagination in meditative formats for healing, illumination, and transformation. She offers DayLight Dreaming sessions that will not only be transformative in and of themselves but also teach you how to begin and maintain your own DayLight Dreaming practice. Email [email protected] for more information.